Brad Dalke admitted to being surprised by how he was holding his own among heralded international players as the YouTube golf star continued to impress at the BMW International Open.
The American, playing this week on a tournament invite, backed up an opening three-under-par 69 with a 66 on Friday to sit one shot behind early second-round clubhouse leaders Carlos Ortiz and Michael Hollick.
Dalke, a junior prodigy golfer who was the U.S. Amateur runner-up in 2016 and made Major Championship appearances at the Masters Tournament and U.S. Open in 2017, is making his first appearance in a world-ranked tournament since playing on the Korn Ferry Tour six years ago.
Last week, the 28-year-old announced his departure from Good Good, a successful YouTube channel with more than 2.1 million subscribers, due to personal reasons.
But despite limited pre-tournament expectations, with Dalke insisting his main aim was to have "fun", he will head into the weekend in title contention on the DP World Tour.
✅ Tour debut
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 3, 2026
✅ Shoots opening rounds of 69-66
✅ Makes the cut
✅ Currently sitting T2
See you over the weekend, @DalkeKong3 👋#BMWInternationalOpen pic.twitter.com/PdXMusjzez
“Obviously, I didn’t have a goal coming into this week," he said on Friday.
"I just wanted to have some fun and enjoy it. And obviously, shooting 66 is pretty fun, so that helps the cause.
"Yesterday, that first tee shot, I was shaking like a leaf.
"Coming down the last few holes too... I try not to look at leaderboards, but it's hard not to miss them out there and I see my name up there for the first time.
"It’s very nervy, but I also love these moments. I love playing in front of big crowds and big opportunities. It's been fun."
In a field containing Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World leader Patrick Reed, recent back-to-back tour winner Eugenio Chacarra and Sergio Garcia, Dalke is upstaging a host of established stars.
I love playing in front of big crowds and big opportunities. It's been fun
Dalke began his second round with back-to-back birdies after starting at the tenth, before a birdie at the 14th was cancelled out by just his second bogey of the week at the 15th.
A pair of birdies either side of him hitting the turn soon followed, before he continued to capitalise when opportunities presented on the greens to add further gains at the fifth and par-five ninth.
“It was another great day of putting for me," he reflected.
"The putting's really kept me in there. I have had about four or five holes through these first two days where I kind of had a chance to maybe lose a lot of momentum and my putter was able to keep me in it and really keep kind of good rounds going.
"I haven't struck it fantastic per se, but hit it good enough and made a lot of putts."
Ryan Ruffels, a former PGA Tour player-turned-YouTube creator, appeared at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic earlier this season after winning a qualifying event ahead of the event stateside.
And Dalke admits he feels a commitment to representing YouTube golf and their legion of followers after being presented this opportunity, a year on from a similar invite being extended to Wesley and George Bryan.
"Ryan Ruffles played in the Myrtle Beach PGA Tour event a couple months ago, and he said it really well," added Dalke.
"It's like a it's a weird mixture of there's no stress because I'm not out here fighting for points and I'm not grinding every week and on the season, but also I do kind of representing YouTube golf in a way.
"There's a lot of YouTube fans and a lot of people love YouTube and they love watching me and they vouch for me, so I'm trying to prove for them as well."
